The Blank Canvas (Apartment #2) (20 page)

“What are we celebrating?” Lily asked, holding out her glass to clink it against Emma’s.

“The fact that you’re finally getting some tonight!” Maggie laughed, coming through the door with her own glass raised. “Perhaps we can all go back to our normal lives now that balance will be returned to the sexual force.”

“Oh ha-ha, Obi-Wan. Very cute.” Lily tried to shoot her a menacing glare, but it was ruined when her laughter broke through. She sipped at her drink for a moment as she looked at her two dear friends, slowly realizing that they were dressed just as formally as she was. “Hey, I thought I was the one trying to sexy it up tonight. You both look gorgeous! What’s up? Are you coming to dinner, too?”

“Uh, well—” Emma looked caught off guard for a second until Maggie jumped in.

“Hell no! We’ve got no interest in watching you two moon over each other all night, do we?” She looked at Emma pointedly until she shook her head in reply. “Besides, we are much too hot tonight to waste all this sexiness on you. We plan on grabbing our menfolk the second they walk in the door and taking them out on the town.”

“Yeah, Brandon and Eric won’t know what hit them,” Emma added, rubbing her hands together as if she were an evil mastermind.

“Well, whatever amazing things you do tonight, it’s not half of what you deserve.” Lily stepped closer and hugged them both to her, all of them trying to avoid spilling their drinks. “I can’t thank you enough for everything.”

“Please,” Emma sighed. “Like we need a reason to shop!”

“Not just the shopping. Everything. You two have been there for me so much lately. I can’t imagine what the last few months of my life would have been like without you.”

“Ugh, bitch… stop it before you make me cry and ruin my makeup!” Maggie huffed, wiping at the corner of her eye.

Just then there was a light knocking at the front door. Emma excused herself to answer it, only to call out from the hallway in a singsong voice less than a minute later. “Oh, Lily… I do believe your date has arrived.”

Swallowing down the butterflies that threatened to fly right out of her mouth, Lily took one last look in the mirror and steeled herself for her night of mystery with the man of her dreams.

Or so she thought she had, but she was still blown away when she got a good look at him in his midnight blue Gucci suit. He was absolutely breathtaking to behold, like some sort of majestic, fantastical creature.

As she slowly walked toward him, Lily started to worry that when she was finally standing next to him she might look like some sort of troll who crawled out from under a bridge for the night. However, once she saw the shock and desire on his face as he stared back at her, she realized that there might actually be a chance that she could hold her own.

Without a word, Ethan grabbed her hand and pulled it to his lips. The heat in his gaze as he looked up at her over her knuckles was enough to make small beads of sweat stand out on her forehead.

“Stunning,” he whispered, kissing her fingers again lightly before letting them go. “My beautiful girl, you are nothing short of stunning tonight.”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

“Nonsense,” he scoffed, sliding his hand to the small of her back and leading her toward the door. “I pale in comparison to this goddess on my arm.”

Lily was flattered by what she thought were only pretty words, but Ethan meant every one of them.

After a scorching round of eyefuckery in the elevator that Ethan clearly won, he led her across the parking garage to his waiting car. He was smiling as he held open the door for her, and his beautiful face distracted Lily so much that she nearly didn’t notice that something was different.

“Wait a minute,” she said, one foot already inside the car. “Where’s your rental?”

“What are you talking about?” he smiled again playfully.

“We arrived here in a blue Nissan. This is a black Audi.”

“Hmm… well that’s odd, isn’t it?” He motioned for her to sit down and he closed the door quickly, jumping in the driver’s seat and revving the engine.

“It’s also the same model Audi that you were renting a few months ago,” she continued as they drove across town.

“Imagine the coincidence,” he smirked.

“Did you exchange your rental?”

“Nope.”

“Then what? How did you get this particular car?”

“I bought it.”

“You
bought
it?” she gasped.

“Mmhmm,” he replied nonchalantly as he looked out the side window, as if it were nothing more than buying a cup of coffee.

“But… why?”

Ethan pulled into the lot of an elegant seafood restaurant and parked the car. When he turned to look at her again, his face had become very serious. “Because I’ve never owned my own car. I’ve gotten by on rentals and taxis and even on foot, but I never wanted any ties to anything before… I didn’t want any attachments. Just like I’ve always stayed in hotels or rented space to paint. I always wanted to be able to pack up and take off at a moment’s notice without worrying about making arrangements.”

“And now?” she whispered.

“And now… I think I could use a few attachments in my life.”

“So you bought your very first car?” She looked around the interior before smiling hugely. “Then, congratulations!” Leaning over, she kissed him loudly on the cheek. “I’m proud of you. But why this exact same car when you could have your pick of anything?”

He slowly reached up to cup her face. “Do you really need to ask?” Lowering his head, he covered her mouth with his own, telling her with the slightest pressure of his lips how important their shared memories were to him. As he pulled away, he left a trail of gentle kisses on her face, over her cheeks and nose, ending with soft pecks to the fragile skin of her eyelids when they fluttered closed. “Come on, beautiful,” he said against her flesh. “Let’s get you inside before I have second thoughts and drive straight to the hotel.”

“Fine by me,” she exhaled, feeling lightheaded at how closely he hovered over her.

“Don’t tempt me,” he laughed lightly, his sweet breath tickling her. Planting one more kiss on the center of her forehead, he sat back and shoved a hand through his hair. “Seriously, you don’t know how close I am to throwing all of my plans out the window. All it took was one look at you in that dress.”

“Well in that case,” she smiled tauntingly, “I wouldn’t dare waste the opportunity to make you squirm all night. Let’s eat. I want to enjoy sitting across from you, knowing that the entire time you’re eating, you are really imagining how quickly you could have me undressed.”

“Who says I would bother undressing you first? I bet that skirt flips up fairly easily.”

“That’s very true. But then you wouldn’t get to see what I have on underneath, now would you?” She laughed playfully, climbing out of the car and strutting toward the restaurant. One look at the seductive sway of her hips as she walked told Ethan that he was in for a very long night.

Their dinner was perfect. They ordered different items from the menu, sharing bites of their meal with each other. The evening was full of laughter and lighthearted conversation, and when it came time for dessert they split a decadent slice of cheesecake. Lily allowed him to feed her large forkfuls, taking particular care to wrap her lips and tongue slowly around the delicious treat.

“You’re not playing fair,” he gritted through his teeth, his eyes never leaving her luscious mouth.

“Who said I was playing?” she returned quickly, her tongue flicking against the tines of the fork before she closed her eyes and moaned at the taste.

“Check, please!” Ethan called out, forcing himself to break her gaze. He knew he needed to get moving if he was going to get her to the gallery on time, and sitting around staring at her while she ate was only serving as a distraction.

A few minutes later he was pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards Halsted, the center of the arts district in the city.

“So where are you taking me now?” Lily asked as she fastened her seatbelt, watching the Chicago skyline streak by through her window.

“You’ll see.” He turned his head long enough to smile at her, winking quickly before returning his attention to the road. When they reached a crowded street he pulled abruptly into a narrow alley, parking in a private lot hidden behind the corner building. As they walked around to the front entrance, Lily noticed a large group of people waiting to get in.

“Are we going dancing?” she asked, assuming that it was the line for a popular nightclub.

“No.”

“Then where are we?” She glanced around at the unfamiliar faces as they walked directly to the front of the line. Some of them were giving her dirty looks in return, while others were ignoring her completely and staring openly at Ethan. One woman even went so far as to tap her husband on the shoulder excitedly and point at him.

Rather than answer her, Ethan guided her to the bored looking bouncer at the door. When he saw who approached, he stood up straighter and cleared his throat.

“Good evening, Mr. Foster,” he said nervously, reaching quickly for the door handle.

“Good evening, Douglas,” he nodded. “Big turnout, huh?”

“Yes, sir. We’re almost at max capacity. I’m only allowed to go off the list when more people inside leave.”

“Well, at least it’s a nice night to be outside,” Ethan smiled, placing his hand at the small of Lily’s back again and leading her through the open door.

“Is this… some sort of art exhibit?” she asked, looking around at the large crowds of people huddled around various oil paintings.

“What gave it away?”

“I’m sorry, that was a stupid question,” she giggled. “I’ve just never been to one.”

“Don’t be sorry, I was only teasing you. Yes, it’s an art exhibit. Opening night, in fact. That’s why it’s so crowded.”

“Do you know the artist? Is it a friend of yours?”

“As a matter of fact,” he chuckled, “I’ve known him my entire life.”

The way he was speaking made her feel as if she wasn’t quite catching on to some important detail. She looked around the large room more carefully, her head snapping back when she finally noticed the large lettering that had been stenciled high on the blank wall above the first section of paintings:

Lily of the Valley
A New Collection by Ethan Foster

Lily gasped loudly when all the pieces finally tumbled into place.
This
was her surprise. “You did all of this… for me?”

“Everything, Lily.” He gestured back and forth with his hand in large sweeping motions, indicating the crowd as well as the paintings. “Everything you see here is all for you.”

The largest painting was the only one that she could see from across the room, but in it she recognized the rear view of a woman’s bare shoulder and neck, her dark brown hair spilling in waves over her pillow as she slept. The focal point of the piece wasn’t the woman herself, but a smattering of light brown freckles on her shoulder.

It was Lily.

And suddenly she knew, without even looking at any of the other paintings, that they were all of her.

“But… why?
How
?” she choked out, already feeling the tears welling in her eyes. “When did you paint all of these?” The walls were covered—there had to be at least sixty paintings stretched out as far as the eye could see.

“While I was gone,” he whispered gruffly. When she looked up, her eyes met intense, smoldering jade. He reached up slowly and brushed a tear away from her cheek with his thumb. “You were all I could think of, all I could see. I thought that I had given you up so that you could have a better life without me. This was my way of keeping you in my heart.”

“What… what made you decide to show them like this? To display them for the world to see? You were so private about us before.” She heard the waver in her voice and wondered if he could tell how close she was to bawling her eyes out.

“Because…” he took a deep breath before continuing. “I wanted you and everybody else in the whole wide world to know that I can’t fucking live without you.” He blinked a few times, and she noticed that his eyes were tearing up, too. Ethan cupped her face with both hands, leaning down to brush his lips gently against hers. “I love you.”

With that, he pulled her into a crushing embrace, moving back only far enough to kiss her repeatedly. This time, when Lily tasted the salt of tears on her lips, she wasn’t foolish enough to think that they only belonged to one of them.

They held each other closely and kissed for longer than was appropriate in a crowded room, only breaking apart when someone cleared their voice softly and tapped Ethan on the shoulder. Her cheeks coloring brightly, Lily shyly looked over and was surprised to see the face of a trendy-looking woman with spiky red hair and funky glasses smiling back at the both of them.

“I’m very sorry to interrupt, Ethan, but I just wanted to thank you once again for thinking of us. This is by far the most successful opening I’ve ever seen here.”

“Don’t be silly,” he smiled warmly. “You were the one who did me the favor of setting this up with such short notice. Nobody else would touch it. I should be the one thanking you.”

“Well, their loss is my gain,” she laughed. “I don’t like to be bound as tightly as some of the stuffier galleries around here. As soon as I heard that your name was attached I was all in.” She smiled at the beautiful brunette on Ethan’s arm, but right as she was holding her hand out to introduce herself, something that looked like a flicker of recognition flashed across her face. “Oh my God… you’re
her
, aren’t you?”

Lily blinked a few times, not knowing what to make of the animated woman. “Her?”

“Yes!
Her
.” She swept her hand out, gesturing around the room at the many different canvases on the walls. “I would know those beautiful eyes anywhere.”

Lily felt her face coloring a deeper shade of pink under the mystery woman’s scrutiny. She followed the direction that her hand currently pointed and saw another large painting, this one showing nothing but a close up of her own eyes staring back at her in what could only be described as a very heated gaze.